There are very few movies or documentaries that require a tremendous amount of thought and concentration while watching; However, Objectified is an exception. From the very beginning of the film, images and clips were shown that made the viewer think and the context had a profound impact on my views of design. There are many professionals that appeared in the documentary who had opinions on design and views of society that I had never heard before or thought of on my own. One of the first ideas the film mentioned was the fact that every object has a story behind it. Everything one uses on a day-to-day basis has been strategically designed, yet no one thinks about it. Maybe here or there someone ponders why a toilet looks like a toilet, or why a door looks like a door, but it is a rarity. In my opinion, the people shown in the flick have molded their minds to automatically think about these background stories and incorporate that knowledge into modern design. Because of this, effective designers know what people need or want before everyday people realize it. For example, a company designed a new handle for hedge clippers without anyone even bringing up the fact that they were hard to use. By having a grasp of the stories behind products you haven’t created, one can incorporate this knowledge into other products – ultimately improving performance by design without anyone noticing or thinking about the change.
Someone in the film stated that good design is “un-designed”. Allowing users to say, “well of course it is this way.” A person using said hedge clippers would assume that having notches in the grip for your thumbs would be an obvious feature, but at one point it was not. Some designer had to have an “ah-ha” moment and realize just how obvious that feature was, and eventually implement it.
Being inventive and ultramodern is an important aspect of design in general, but someone in the film mentioned that one of the hardest parts of design is removing what is unnecessary. Although having a lot of features can be attractive, it is not always user-friendly. The documentary emphasized this point a lot. It is all about the user, and that must be kept in mind at all times while designing. A good design should be unobtrusive, easy to use, self-effacing. A good design should have as little design as possible. I completely agree with this statement. When things don’t work properly, individuals automatically assume that they are too stupid to use the product, but it is the design that is actually stupid. Design is supposed to allow humans to interact subconsciously, while producing the expected result of some object.
Watching this film has really changed my view on everything I touch. I have begun thinking, “Why is that the way it is?” and, “Who decided that that looks ‘right’?.” Before watching Objectified, I had always thought of design as simply aesthetics. Much of design still pertains to aesthetics, but even more of it has to do with usability. I had always thought that much of those aspects of design were left to engineers, architects or inventors, but it dawned on me that we are all people, living in the same world, using similar products. Anyone from a plumber to a doctor to a pilot to a small child has insights to usability, but it is how you train your mind to acknowledge potential changes. Being a designer, the world is virtually in your hands.